


Muckrakers

by PitViperOfDoom



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Aunt Cass is a force to be reckoned with, Gen, Nosy asshole reporters, Tadashi "Little Shit" Hamada, This never would have happened if they'd had a BB gun turret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 23:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3507383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PitViperOfDoom/pseuds/PitViperOfDoom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The incident would forever be known as "That Time Aunt Cass Sent a Grown Man to the Hospital".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Muckrakers

There were times that Cass was painfully tempted to take Tadashi's advice. Intellectually she knew that it would only end in lawsuits, since precious few eleven-year-olds were known for their sagacity, GATE student status notwithstanding. Still, lately, the idea of a nonlethal BB turret gun set up at the attic window was becoming increasingly appealing.

At the very least, she thought with a grimace as she pulled a batch of cinnamon rolls from the cooling rack, she might as well hurl some of Great-Aunt JoAnn's antique soap dishes at the bolder ones. They were only cluttering up the linen closet anyway.

* * *

It seemed to Tadashi that every reporter in the Bay Area knew where the Lucky Cat Cafe was. Ever since Hiro's big five-year-old brain had made short work of mathematical theorems that had left college professors scratching their heads, it felt like half a moment's peace was too much to ask for. Most families dreamed of having their fifteen minutes of fame – it was the promise of that kind of attention that drove parents to enter their daughters in pageants or pretend their sons had gotten stuck up in a weather balloon or something.

In Tadashi's mind, the fifteen minutes were long up and these nosy jerks had overstayed their welcome.

Aunt Cass did her best to keep them away from him and Hiro, but it wasn’t always enough. Two kids surrounded by strange adults was a downright nightmare, and it was all his aunt could do to keep shooing them away. After Tadashi had found himself cornered by two women with eager smiles and notepads just two days before, he’d decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. Aunt Cass had brushed off his turret gun plan, but then again, she’d also held onto the schematics he gave her.

Today they had escaped from the excitement to the park about a five-minute walk away from home, and Tadashi was keeping a sharp eye out as he pushed his brother higher on the swings. Tadashi was no genius, but he was smart. Every time Aunt Cass shooed them out for fresh air away from the journalists staking out the cafe, he took Hiro somewhere different. Couldn't risk forming habits and patterns, now, could they?

At the very highest point of the swing's arc, with near-perfect timing, Hiro launched himself off with a shriek. He landed on his feet briefly, flinging up tanbark, before his momentum carried him farther forward and he landed flat on his face. Almost immediately he popped up on his elbows and looked back at Tadashi with wide eyes.

Tadashi kept his face carefully blank. “You good?” he called over. When Hiro blinked and nodded, Tadashi let out a breath and skirted around the swing to lift him up and place him back on his feet. Even for a five-year old, he was small and light, not to mention shaky after the fall. Barely a moment after he was back on his feet, Hiro pinwheeled his arms and latched on to Tadashi’s leg for balance.

A wave of protectiveness washed over Tadashi for a moment, and he crouched down to pull Hiro into a hug. Hiro squirmed a little, giggling, which only made Tadashi hug him tighter.

It was around that moment that he felt a prickle up his spine.

Aunt Cass always said it was a good idea to listen to funny feelings. “It’s not always just nothing,” she’d told him once. “Those little hairs on the back of your neck? They tell the truth.”

Carefully, without letting go of Hiro, Tadashi looked over his shoulder.

There was a man walking along the cement walkway, a little too slowly for Tadashi’s liking. What was more, the guy was looking at them, and when he saw that Tadashi was looking back, he gave them a friendly smile.

Tadashi glared at him. The man seated himself on a bench.

He looked familiar, one of the many that Cass had frustrated with evasive words and absolutely useless mathematician’s answers to their nosy questions. And now he’d followed them to the park, which was… well, creepy was one word for it.

“Excuse me.” A woman’s voice drew his attention. Tadashi looked up to see a blonde lady pausing by him as she watched her kids chase each other up the slide. “Are you two okay?”

It was mean, very mean, what Tadashi did next. He knew very well what the man on the bench was there for - harmless enough, so far. But he put on his very best wide-eyed look, stared straight into the woman’s kind face, and cuddled Hiro close.

“Yeah. My brother just fell, but we’re okay,” he answered. “But that guy over there? He keeps looking at us. It’s really creepy.”

He saw the woman’s face change instantly when she followed his eyes to the waiting journalist. Her jaw stiffened, and the look on her face was nothing short of dangerous. “Are your parents here?” she asked softly, barely moving her lips.

“They’re dead,” Hiro said with quiet bluntness. The woman looked like she’d just been punched in the gut.

“We live with our aunt,” Tadashi said quickly. “It’s just a few blocks away.”

“Go on home, okay?” The woman didn’t take her eyes off the bench. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t follow you.”

Tadashi didn’t have to fake his relief. “Thank you. Hiro, let’s go.”

“Kay. Bye, lady.” Hiro gave her a winning gap-toothed smile.

Tadashi grabbed Hiro’s hand and towed him out of the playground as quickly as he could. They were at the sidewalk when he finally chanced a glance back. The journalist had gotten up to follow them, but he hadn’t gotten far. Not far from the bench, the woman was standing directly before him, apparently verbally tearing him a new one. Stifling a snicker, Tadashi tugged on Hiro’s hand and led him back to the cafe.

They went in through the front door - the house front door, not the cafe front door, just in case. With Hiro clinging to the hem of his shirt, Tadashi crept out to the curtain that walled off the doorway between the cafe and the home behind it, and peeked out.

Aunt Cass was passing by as he pushed aside the edge of the curtain, and she turned to wink at him when she saw him. “Coast’s clear, honey. I’ve got hot chocolate on the stove and the cinnamon rolls are fresh, c’mon out.”

With a cheer, Hiro pushed past Tadashi and out into Aunt Cass’s waiting arms. With practiced ease she swooped him up and balanced him on one hip, and went to open up the display case and pick out one of the promised rolls. Tadashi wandered out, gave the cafe a brief scan, and let himself sigh with relief. The place was pretty quiet for now, mostly regulars - there was Mrs. Matsuda at table seven, over seventy years old but dressing like she was in her early twenties. Beyond that was just a smattering of people, and most importantly there were no journalists.

Aunt Cass pushed a fork and a small plate with half a cinnamon roll into his hands. Hiro was already sitting out at the empty table two, swinging his legs as he cheerfully ate the other half. Tadashi went over to sit with him, grinning at the dab of icing on the end of his nose.

“Got a little something there,” he said, indicating on his own face. Hiro left off eating to sit cross-eyed for several moments, trying to reach the icing with the tip of his tongue. Tadashi had to put his fork down and cover his mouth to avoid spraying crumbs when he laughed.

By the time they were both finished, more customers were beginning to wander in. Aunt Cass might need the table soon, so Tadashi scooped up his and Hiro’s plates and carried them back behind the counter. Through the glass of the display he could see Hiro sliding down from his chair, and went back out to make sure he didn’t get under anyone’s feet.

“Excuse me.”

Tadashi almost flailed when an unfamiliar voice hailed him and a woman he didn’t recognize stepped smoothly in to cut him off. Oh for heaven’s sake they were evolving - now they could teleport. Without warning a quote from a book he’d once read popped into his mind, concerning the verb  _ smool _ \-  “ _ This is not a real word, but it describes the action perfectly.” _

“Yes?” he said politely, on the off chance that she was only a customer.

“ I’m Rita Marez, from the  _ Daily _ -”

“ Oh  _ come on _ .” Tadashi directed his lament in a vague upward direction.

Rita blinked, looking taken aback. “I only had a few questions,” she said.

“You and half the city, lady,” Tadashi muttered under his breath, averting his head.

The reporter leaned in. “Sorry?”

“You should be.”

Rita Marez looked faintly put out. “You’re going to have to speak up. I wanted to know - what’s it like having such an extraordinary younger brother?”

“ Great,” Tadashi replied.  _ Useless answers _ , he reminded himself.

“I mean, how does it make you feel?”

“Good,” he answered, trying not to enjoy the growing frustration on her face too much.

“Does it make you proud?” Rita pressed.

“Yup.” Tadashi turned to glance at the clock.

“What do you think your parents would say, if they were here to see it?”

Tadashi felt his stomach twist, as if this woman had just punched him in the stomach rather than ask him the single stupidest question he’d ever heard. Before he could stop himself, his temper flared and he whipped his head around to glare at her. “They’d probably tell you to mind your own goddamn-”

“Tadashi Hamada!” Tadashi winced as Aunt Cass came storming out from behind the counter. “What have I told you about swearing?”

“It raises pain tolerance,” Tadashi answered promptly. “Does that count for emotional pain too, or should I only do it if someone punches me in the face?”

Aunt Cass’s eyes narrowed severely. “Tadashi…”

He sighed, defeated. “Sorry, Aunt Cass.”

“It’s all right,” Rita Marez chirped in a smarmy tone that made Tadashi’s figurative hackles rise. “Kids, you know?”

“Oh, mind your own goddamn business,” Aunt Cass said flatly, and Tadashi nearly choked on his own spit laughing. “Tadashi, go take your brother upstairs. The vultures are arriving again.”

Tadashi turned to do as he was told, and the laughter died in his throat.

* * *

Hiro pouted a little when Tadashi took his plate away. He hadn’t been quite done with it - there were still crumbs and icing and sticky spots with the cinnamon filling. Sighing loudly, he slid down from his chair. There were more people coming in, and that always meant he had to go upstairs so Aunt Cass could work.

He made to dart to the back again, but ended up running into a stranger’s leg. “Sorry.”

“It’s all right. Hello, there.”

Hiro tilted his head way back. The man was super tall, taller than Tadashi, even taller than Aunt Cass. He was like a tree. “Hi.” Hiro frowned. He recognized the man from the park - Tadashi hadn’t liked him, and that nice woman hadn’t liked him either.

Where was Tadashi? Hiro leaned to the side to look past the man and oh, there he was - he was right over there, talking to some lady. Relieved, Hiro looked back up at the man again.

“Hey,” the man said, bending over a little so Hiro didn’t have to look up so high. “Is it cool if I ask you some things? And then - see that guy over there?” Hiro looked over his shoulder, following the man’s pointing finger. “He’s gonna put you in the newspaper. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“Again?” Hiro said, because he’d already talked to people and smiled for cameras - Aunt Cass had cut it out of the paper and put it up on the fridge.

The man chuckled. “It’s a special newspaper. It’ll be super quick, just smile, and the camera will flash, and then I’ll quit bugging you. How’s that sound?”

“Um…” Was Tadashi still there? Tadashi would know what to do. Hiro leaned out again, searching for him, opening his mouth to call out.

“Hey, here, have some chocolate,” the man said quickly. There was a rustle, and the man offered him a small fun-size chocolate bar, crumpling the wrapper in his other hand.

Hiro’s eyes lit up. Chocolate? He did like chocolate, almost as much as gummy bears. But there was some chocolate he wasn’t supposed to have, the kind with nuts in it. He hadn’t seen the wrapper - was this one okay? “What is it?”

“It’s just chocolate. Nothing weird, I promise. C’mon, I insist. It’s a present.”

Well, if it was a present, then he had to be polite, didn’t he? Aunt Cass got presents from customers sometimes. Hiro took it. “Um, thank you,” he said, popping it into his mouth and chewing. There was caramel in it, like a Milky Way.

Across the room, he heard Tadashi yell loud enough to wake the dead.

* * *

It was that guy again, that stupid nosy creepy man who’d found them at the park. He must have escaped the lady at the playground, and now he was in the room, offering candy to Hiro like a stereotypical kidnapper. Tadashi stormed forward, ready to tell the man off, when his eyes fell upon the half-crumped wrapper in the man’s hand.

Snickers. That was a Snickers bar, the man had just handed him a Snickers bar and  _ Hiro was eating a Snickers bar _ .

“ Aunt Cass!” Panicked, he broke into a run, ducking past a shocked customer and yelling at the top of his lungs. “ _ Hiro spit that out right now! _ ” 

He saw his little brother’s eyes widen as Hiro obeyed, spitting a small wad of brown sludge onto the floor at the man’s feet. Tadashi shoved past the journalist and crouched at eye level with his frightened brother. Hiro looked close to tears.

“Tadashi what happened?” Aunt Cass demanded. She had raced out, still clutching the just-emptied saucepan she’d been heating hot chocolate in.

“It was just candy!” the journalist protested, sounding indignant, holding out the wrapper for her to see. “What, you think I’d try to poison the kid? What do you take me for?”

Aunt Cass saw the wrapper. Her eyes bulged, and her grip on the saucepan handle tightened. “Is that  _ Snickers? _ ”  she shrieked furiously.

“Oh come on!” The journalist stared at her, red-faced. “What kind of parent are you, not letting your damn kid have one piece of candy?” 

Aunt Cass swung the saucepan and smashed him in the face with the bottom of it, twice. When he didn’t fall on the the second blow, she tossed it on the counter and decked him in the jaw until he did.

Tadashi hadn’t bothered turning away from Hiro. “Hiro, did you swallow any?” he gritted out through clenched teeth, sick with fear. His brother stared at him, eyes wide with alarm. “Answer me, Hiro. I’m not mad, I-” His voice caught. “I just need to know.”

Hiro stared at him with wide, scared eyes and answered, “My throat feels funny.”

Tadashi’s blood turned to ice water in his veins. The wad of chocolate he’d spat out wasn’t nearly big enough. Gently he turned Hiro’s hea, and saw angry red blotches blooming on the skin of his neck, spreading up to his face.

“ Tadashi.” Aunt Cass’s voice was low and shaking. “Call nine-one-one.  _ Now. _ ”

The man was on the ground at her feet, clutching his bloody face and keening with pain. Tadashi jumped over him and ran for the phone behind the counter. Kneeling down with the first aid kit in her hands, Aunt Cass pulled Hiro into her lap and rummaged through it with icy calm. She was already stabbing Hiro in the leg with an EpiPen by the time the dispatcher picked up.

“ _ 911, what’s your emergency? _ ”

“My brother’s allergic to nuts, he just ate some and he’s having a reaction,” Tadashi answered, trying to force the shaking out of his voice. “My aunt’s using the EpiPen right now, but-” Trembling, he did his best to answer the woman’s questions and give her the address.

Aside from the injured journalist’s groaning, the entire cafe had gone dead silent.

* * *

Hiro fell asleep in the hospital bed about an hour into the visit, exhausted from all the excitement. The cafe was closed for the day, leaving Aunt Cass free to stay until the doctors gave them the okay to take him home.

Tadashi sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, fists clenched against his knees, staring down into his lap. Just a few feet away Aunt Cass sat holding Hiro’s hand, apparently lost in thought, and Tadashi couldn’t bring himself to look at her. His stomach churned - she’d offered to buy him something from a vending machine or the hospital cafeteria, but he couldn’t even think of eating at a time like this.

“Tadashi?” Aunt Cass said quietly, making him jump. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m sorry.” His voice broke. The moment he spoke, his eyes stung and welled up until he couldn’t see past the blur of tears.

He heard the chair scrape. “Sweetie, hey-”

Sniffling, Tadashi wiped his eyes on the heel of his hand. “I messed up, Aunt Cass. I left him by himself, a-and I wasn’t paying attention, and he just-”

The chair scraped again, moving closer. “Tadashi, no-”

“I knew there were people there, and I didn’t even-” Tadashi fought to keep his voice under control, to keep from waking Hiro up. He couldn’t breathe without sobbing shakily even as Aunt Cass pulled him into a hug.

“ Hey.” She rubbed his back in slow, calming circles. “Listen to me, okay? Are you listening?” He nodded against her chest. “It wasn’t all on you, sweetheart. We both got distracted. And that-” She paused. “That guy should’ve known better. What he did was shameless and terrible, and  _ not your fault _ .”

“I should’ve stayed with him.” He felt sick with guilt, looking past the teary blurr and Aunt Cass’s shoulder and seeing Hiro asleep in a hospital bed, when he should have been safe at home playing video games or chasing Mochi up and down the stairs.

“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.” She kissed the top of his head. “You still got there just in time.”

“He needed me sooner.”

“ Next time,” Aunt Cass whispered. “You still got there fast, and that’s why there’s going to  _ be _ a next time.”

“I won’t leave him,” Tadashi promised, voice muffled against Aunt Cass’s shirt. “Next time. I’m gonna stay with him. I won’t leave him alone, I’ll be there right when he needs me and I won’t let anybody hurt him, I promise.”

He could hear the smile in her voice. “I know. And I promise I’ll be better, too, okay?”

Tadashi nodded again.

“Happy ending this time,” Aunt Cass murmured. “Don’t forget that.” And she held him until all the tears were cried out.

* * *

And it was, more than she had realized at the time. The incident received some publicity, by word of mouth as much as printed news. There was a minor public outcry against nosy reporter negligence that encouraged quite a few journalists to back off.

And on top of that, word spread about Daryl Hawkins from BayWeekly magazine - how he ended up in the ER with a shattered nasal septum and first degree burns on his face after Cass Hamada got her hands on him, and promptly lost both his case and his job when he attempted to take her to court. That made them  _ really  _ back off.

A week later Cass received a formal written apology from his employers, as well as a photocopy of his termination notice. Tadashi put it on the fridge, just below Hiro’s newspaper clipping.

(They kept the schematics, just in case.)

 


End file.
